China’s anticorruption crackdown is impeding its military buildup plans, Pentagon says

A widespread anticorruption campaign within the senior levels of the Chinese military and government is impeding its push to build up its military by 2027, the Pentagon says in a new report released on Wednesday.

A widespread anticorruption campaign within the senior levels of the Chinese military and government is impeding its push to build up its military by 2027, the Pentagon says in a new report released on Wednesday. “In the second half of 2023 alone, at least 15 high ranking military officials and defense industry executives were removed from their posts for corruption … This wave of corruption related investigations and the removal of senior leaders may have disrupted the [People’s Liberation Army’s] progress toward its 2027 goals,” a senior defense official told reporters this week in a briefing on the China Military Power report, which is delivered to Congress annually and outlines China’s military and security developments. The official added that it is “having some impact already” and will “inevitably” come up again as the Pentagon continues to track the campaign’s impact on development and acquisition of military capabilities, as well as major construction projects and personnel. The report also says that China is “almost certainly” learning from Russia’s war in Ukraine and applying those lessons to its approach to Taiwan. Specifically, the senior defense official said China is looking to “advance their objectives” in the information space and has seen the sanctions against Russia as a sign China needs to be more self-reliant to be able to withstand additional penalties. The report also said China has an estimated 600 operational nuclear warheads, up roughly 100 since last year’s report was released. It says that they will have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030, and while the senior defense official said it was in line with their previous assessments, they added that they certainly expect China will “continue expanding and modernizing their force” beyond 2030. China’s leader Xi Jinping has laid out an ambitious plan to “modernize” the PLA by 2035 and transform it into a “world class” military by mid-century. American officials believe Xi has instructed the PLA to be ready to invade the self-governing island of Taiwan by 2027, though they have stressed that doesn’t mean an invasion will occur in 2027.